So that dreaded thread again about failing smog again.

some background info. 98 lude, 194k miles, just intake and header. 2 years ago cat and both O-sensors were replaced.

car was driven maybe 1000-1500 miles since last smog check.
car was parked for 6 months. prior to smog check did oil change, ran old gas out close to empty, fill up another 3/4 ran about 1/2 of that, about 160 miles on the freeway.

went in for a smog check, ran the car for about 1.5 hrs before it got to test station.
smog failed at idle. hc 19ppm higher than max.
results are,

at 746 rpm co2 meas 14.7 / O2 meas 0.0 / hc max 100 meas 119 / CO max 1.0 meas .04
2500rpm CO2 meas 14.6 / O2 meas0.0 / hc max 130 meas 38 / CO max 1.0 meas .03
so fails at idle.
i cant remember how different the readings are from the previous smog.

On a cold start I see a lil bit of white smoke until the engine warms up, makes me think there could be something else going on.

Some searches tell me this g2p thing but ive never used it.

I was thinking of running another 100 miles or so again before redoing the test but looking for some other alternatives to get it to pass.
with the car being parked for 6 months or so prior to test would there be any other alternatives to pass.

anyhow thanks for reading the thread and if you can provide some feedback that would be helpful.

 

What brand of catalytic converter are you running? I know on my 98 Prelude I replaced my old unit with a Magnaflow California Cat and it passed with flying colors the first time then 2 years later it barely squeeked by I am sure this time around I will not pass smog.

 

add a gallon of methyl hydrate to half a tank of premium. drive it for 60 miles then go for the test.

 

Looks like its egr port and valve cleaning time.

 

that is a good question. I cant remember the part or brand but it was a cheap o one. about 300 dollars or so.

Right now I'm checking lines for leaks anywhere.
replacing spark plugs even though they last 100K miles.

as Holmes mentioned, time to clean out some dirty polluted parts.

but for the time being its going to get parked again for another month lol.

time to travel

 

Methyl hydrate? What's the purpose of that

 

Wouldn't waste time with the egr advice, the cat is junk.....

 

300 dollars is far from cheap for an aftermarket cat. Without knowing exactly which one it is, it's hard to say it's clearly the culprit here. With 190k miles on this engine an egr port cleaning will work wonders for HC. Many things can contribute to a cat going bad anyhow.

 

Its not hard at all. Exhaust gas analysis points to the cat . Plain and simple.



As for why the cat failed,yes there are a variety of factors that can contribute to its failure. The primary culprit is typically the amount of noble metals loaded. $300 is dirt cheap for a cat, and the OP is finding out why now....

 

Not gonna completely rule out the cat but i had higher hc's and an egr port cleaning cleaned it all up. I was using and still am a cal cat for $100 from advanced auto and still running strong about 4 years and two smogs with no issues.

 

I did not see your VIR so I could not say what the issue was,but egr cleaning wont help the TS....
Cal Cats are different animals. They are REQUIRED by CA law to last 5 years or 50k miles. They are good cats. 100 bucks was a steal.

 

Cal cats are junk or at least the ones from Magnaflow are I barely passed my last smog test so essentially I only got two smogs out of it that is crap for spending $330 on it.